If you talk to a Tom Ford sales associate about their Brow Sculptor, they’ll probably talk to you about the shape and/or packaging of the pencils. They describe the shape as “calligraphy style,” and explain that you can use the flat of the pencil to fill, or use it along its narrow axis for more precise application. I guess I’m not taking advantage of this design feature; I’m only using the thin edge.

They’ll also draw your attention to the built in “trough” sharpener (which IS nifty: Unscrew the back of the pencil to reveal the sharpener, then draw the pencil through the groove to reshape/resharpen).

But what makes this pencil so special is its formula. It just goes on so beautifully. Some brow pencils are so hard that filling in a sparse area takes effort. With those kinds of pencils, I find it very difficult to add to the width of my brow. A few brands make a brow pencil so soft that they deposit too much product, drawing attention to themselves. Tom Ford’s pencil is a true artist’s tool. Shaping and filling is no effort at all — the product deposits exactly where you want it, and it looks so wonderfully natural.

In my opinion/experience, a good brow pencil should be just about impossible to swatch. They’re waxy and firm, which makes them great for staying put on your brows — but it’s difficult to mark on hairless skin (like your hand or arm). These didn’t want to swatch, and I was tempted to give up, but I really wanted to talk about them, so I persevered.

Taupe is my perfect shade. I think Chestnut is intended for redheads.

Tom Ford’s Brow Sculptors are $42, available from NeimanMarcus.com.

One day (curiosity killed the cat), I decided to dip my toe into the world of brow products. I wish I could say this event was safely in my past, beyond the statute of limitations for embarrassment… but this was probably in the last three years or so.

I acquired a dark brown brow pencil at random, and colored it exactly over my brow. Good grief! It was too much! Too dark! Suddenly my brow shape looked all wrong. The result looked sort of manly.

My immediate question was “how do I undo this?” but my second question was “how do I do this right next time?” The answer to the first question: run a spoolie (a clean mascara wand) through your brows to brush out the product — I like to brush them up, then front to back. If you’ve drawn the tail out too long, you can rub it away with your fingers.

I’m still really just at the novice level of brow enhancing: I don’t color my brows every day, I use a pencil (because they’re easy), and I just use one color.

I’m not really trying to change the shape of my brow; for me (right now), brow correction means filling in spots that might be a little sparse (I have a thin patch at the arch of one brow). Some days perhaps one eyebrow looks a bit narrower than the other. The most important thing is to take a step back from the mirror to evaluate how your brows look relative to one another, and relative to the rest of your face.

Advanced Studies

For those of you interested in more advanced brow techniques, I talked with two local makeup artists (and brow gurus) about how to step up my game. Jeanette Pantoja said she likes to use a deeper color to define the bottom edge of the brow, and a second, lighter color to fill. She finishes with a brow gel (to set the powder).

Victoria Hines concurred (she has thin brows herself, but you’d never know it if you’d only met her with her makeup on). She said the darker shade should be the color of your roots or lowlights. Victoria creates a thin shape with the darker shade, then fills in the rest with feather strokes of a lighter color.

Victoria loves this technique because she says it’s less harsh than using just one brow color. On days when she’s feeling fancy, Victoria sets her powder with a gel, too, but she’s been using Diorshow Maximizer Lash Plumping Serum. She says it dries completely clear and softens the effect of coloring in the brows. She also believes its helping her brows grow.

Immortal Flower is a matte warm pink (even though it’s a Satin finish). Modern Mandarin is a satin tangerine-persimmon with a silver sheen/shimmer. Lovecloud is a satin strawberry-candy pink with a silver sheen (very subtle shimmer).

Here are light and heavy swatches:


Full of Joy is a shimmery pale lilac (pinky purple, though it looks especially purple next to Peony Petal) with a silver shimmer/sheen. Peony Petal is a satin (near-matte, but glowy) cool pink. Pink Tea is a satin rose-pink, and if I’d realized how similar it was going to look to Lovecloud, I would have swatched them side by side. I think Pink Tea is a little bit dustier and a little bit mauvier than Lovecloud.


These blushes are $20 each, and all six shades are still available (with free shipping, natch) from Nordstrom.com.

The small foyer downstairs

I’m feeling extremely jetsetting, readers. Lucky Magazine just hosted the first “west coast edition” of their Fashion and Beauty Bloggers (FABB) conference in L.A., so I made my first trip to the city of angels. It was a pretty quick trip, but I managed to squeeze in a pilgrimage to Kate Somerville’s clinic in Hollywood.

As you may recall from previous posts, a friend introduced to the Kate Somerville brand about a year ago, and I have since fallen deeply in love. Every product I’ve tried does everything it claims, and a consistent “Kate” regimen means perfect skin for me. I could easily, happily use almost every product she makes… but I guess the folks at Neiman Marcus might object to my living at their counter.

Kate’s medi-spa (she has just the one location in Hollywood) goes way beyond your usual facials and body treatments — though, obviously, they do those very well. They offer a variety of lights and lasers (to treat rosacea, acne, sun spots, scarring, lack of firmness, milia, hyperpigmentation), injectables, Botox, hair removal — you name it. The clinic is staffed by an amazing team of doctors, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, and aestheticians.

Spiral staircase up to the main floor

The space is so beautiful, and SO aligned with the brand. Everything is white and elegant and sunlit (though shades are always drawn in the treatment rooms, of course). The building actually used to be a private home (Sean Connery used to live here! And Johnny Depp!).

Though I came in the front door, clients who might be eluding the paparazzi can slip up the back stairs — Kate not only has a sterling reputation for her treatments, but also for her discretion.

I scheduled a signature facial. I already knew I liked the products, and (especially after the flight) I was really looking forward to the facial. But I was also curious to learn how a Kate Clinic experience differed from what I’ve already enjoyed at the counter in Dallas.

Every Neiman Marcus Kate Somerville counter (and many Nordstrom counters) offers DermalQuench facials as a complimentary gift with purchase.

The key to a DermalQuench facial is an airbrushing machine, which sprays a superfine mist of hyaluronic acid and vitamins, followed by oxygen (which has antibacterial properties). It is total instant gratification — immediate hydration, reduced fine lines, and “glow” without oiliness or irritation. You look fabulous from the moment you get out of the chair. If you haven’t tried it already, I highly recommend it.

At the top of the stairs

The signature facial doesn’t use the DermalQuench machine, but no one leaves the Clinic without “the Kate glow.” I knew I was in good hands with the lovely and very knowledgeable Lili.

Lili started by washing my face with Kate’s Gentle cleanser (to remove makeup/sunscreen). This product is sulfate-free and protects the skin’s natural barrier — a must for dry and sensitive skin.

She followed with Kate’s Detox cleanser, which she used in conjunction with a Clarisonic. The Detox cleanser contains phytic acid to help fade acne scars, and vitamin B complexes to prevent over-drying.

She then gently ran a vibrating metal ultrasound wand over my skin. She explained that this tool helps slough off dead cells, stimulates cell turnover, and improves circulation. It also improves product absorption.

The reception area

After the ultrasound, she applied the famous ExfoliKate. ExfoliKate contains mechanical beads, as well as lactic acid (an alpha hydroxy acid, which causes dead cells to fall off, stimulates skin cells to reproduce, and promotes the production of collagen, which increases skin’s elasticity). Lili explained that mechanical exfoliators loosen dead skin cells, but you really need a chemical exfoliator to lift them away. ExfoliKate also contains papaya, pineapple, and pumpkin enzymes, as well as cinnamon to enhance circulation. As you can imagine, it smells delicious.

Normally, Lili would perform extractions at this stage, but I asked if we could skip that step. I believe facial skin is too delicate for the procedure. Every time I consent to extractions it hurts, I regret it, and my face is really red afterwards… plus I can’t really see a before-and-after benefit.

The next step was probably my favorite: a blueberry-and-honey hydrating mask. Though this is a proprietary Kate product, it’s not (currently) available for sale — so the only place to experience it is in the Clinic. Lili applied a thick layer of this super hydrating, super-antioxidant mask to my face, then gave me a shoulder massage while it “dried” (a transformation I didn’t even notice). I truly lost track of the passage of time, but when she’d finished the massage, she peeled off the mask in one thrillingly stretchy, flexible, solid sheet. It was reminded me of my elementary school days, rubbing Elmer’s glue on my palm, then peeling it off in as large a piece as possible. This mask is usually part of the Pregnancy Facial (a baby-friendly regimen that focuses on hydration, calming, de-puffing, and gently soothing the skin).

Doorway to the treatment rooms

Even though the Signature Facial doesn’t use the DermalQuench machine, Lili gave me an extra dose of hydration with Kate’s new use-it-at-home DermalQuench Liquid Lift (a shake-and-spray portable version of Kate’s wonder machine).

Treatment complete, she got me ready to hit the road with Kate’s anti-dark-circle CytoCell eye cream (which contains synthetic stem cells, peptides that promote cell turnover, and caffeine for circulation). And Oil-Free Moisturizer.

I confess, Oil-Free is just about the only Kate moisturizer I haven’t tried — I’m not super oily, so I had overlooked it. Lili said that I might really like Oil-Free for summer, because the formula is light but extremely hydrating. She said it contains red marine algae, which helps with skin elasticity, and peptides which reduce the appearance of wrinkles. Dammit, Lili, this was one of the FEW Kate products I thought I didn’t need to possess.

We finished (of course), with Kate’s oil-free SPF 55, on face, chest, and arms.

Indulge me while I walk you through a few more photos of the spa:

Nook leading to two of the Clinic's twenty treatment rooms. I have wallpaper envy.

One of the smaller treatment rooms

A demonstration of a red LED light, which stimulates collagen production. This thing gets BRIGHT.

The back stairs, where the celebs sneak in!

Okay, so the Clinic is beautiful. But my FAVORITE space is the enormous, high-ceilinged room off the main reception area. The walls are lined with products and copies of Kate’s book, and the room is fantastically lit by a floor-to-ceiling window that takes up almost an entire wall.

In front of that window is a makeup station — the most wonderful makeup station in the world. It’s a lucite desk, so you don’t block any of the light from the window. Ordinarily they have a makeup artist (slash brow artist, slash lash tech) there — for anyone who would prefer not to leave the Clinic completely au natural. I still had my suitcase (and all my makeup) with me, so I asked if I could do my makeup there before I left. (I knew the situation in the hotel room was going to be pretty dismal.) They graciously said to take all the time I need.

My favorite room

It was the most wonderful vanity setup I’ve ever seen. I’ve never seen my makeup application so clearly! Someday, I want one just like this.

I want one of those

Of course, it helped that my skin was looking pretty awesome, too. Yeah, I skipped foundation.

“Lillibet” was Queen Elizabeth II’s childhood nickname, and 2012 marks her sixtieth year on the throne. Who wouldn’t want to celebrate the monarch’s Diamond Jubilee?  (England’s second such celebration! Elizabeth II’s reign is exceeded only by Victoria’s.)

From the photos I’ve seen, I’d call Lillibet’s Jubilee a metallic silver-lavender frost-foil (slightly gritty, but the “grit” is small and seems to get lost in indoor photos). Many have praised its coverage (almost a one-coater) and smooth finish. The color is $14, and is limited edition.

Butter London describes this shade as containing holographic glitter… I don’t see it,  but it’s a lovely color nevertheless.

For more photos of Lillibet’s Jubilee on AlexandraRC’s perfect nails, click here.

You can pick up Lillibet’s Jubilee on ButterLondon.com and Beauty.com (Beauty.com has a Friends and Family, 20%-off discount May 14 – 18, or you can take $10 off a $50 purchase — no codes, these are clickthrough offers).

If we’re lucky, the color might also come back in stock on Nordstrom.com.

Eyeshadow duos are back, though they’re $27.50 now. As with last summer’s duos, MAC doesn’t identify individual shade names or finishes.

Dynamic Duo 1 features a warm candy pink with gold duochrome shimmer, paired with a slightly chalky matte magenta berry (really the only shade that disappointed me at all in terms of smooth delivery of pigment). Dynamic Duo 2 includes a softly shimmery blue-silver and a vibrant matte cerulean.

Dynamic Duo 3 offers a shimmery blue-purple-steel grey and a matte teal (yowsers). Dynamic Duo 4 has a matte Pepto/Barbie pale blue-pink and a super-dark matte eggplant purple. All in all, the texture and color payoff of the duos is excellent.

The collection also features a few face powders. Pink Cult blush (repromoted from Jeanius) is a dusty bubblegum pink (Matte). I thought — from its name — that Magenta, a matte red-violet, process magenta, was a permanent, pro color (products with simple color names are often pro shades)… but I was mistaken; it’s limited edition. The blushes are $20 each.

Lightscapade Mineralize Skinfinish was originally released in 2006; recently repromoted in the Cindy Sherman collection of fall 2011. It’s a pearly warm-white shimmery highlight, $29.

I swatched the powders first lightly, then heavily.

The collection also includes three nail polishes (each $16). Vivid Effect is a red-pink coral, an intense hibiscus creme. In the Dark… Purple is grape. Screening Room is a green teal.

There are also four Eye Kohl (non-mechanical pencil) eyeliners ($15 each). Heirloom is a shimmery metallic dishwater blue-purple silver grey. Hyacinth is a satin (low shimmer) justice blue. Resort is a satin grape. Smolder (a permanent shade) is black.

The lips are probably my favorite part of the collection. I’d been vaguely regretting not buying Watch Me Simmer from February’s Shop MAC Cook MAC collection, but it’s already being repromoted, so I got my second chance.

Reel Sexy is a light coral pink Amplified Creme. Watch Me Simmer is a deeper warm pink. Pink Popcorn (Lustre) looks really lavender in the tube, but swatches on surprisingly pink. It’s a very sheer pink lilac with microscopic blue shimmers.

Wag of the finger to MAC for naming the fourth lipstick in this collection Heroine. MAC fans surely remember that there was a Heroine lipstick in MAC’s recent Wonder Woman collection. It was a Frost finish, and a completely different color (frosty red-brown). This Heroine is a grape creme Matte. The lipsticks are each $14.50.

There are also four Cremesheen Glass lipglosses ($19.50). Private Screening is a light warm pink. Star Quality is a bright red-pink coral, a color that J.Crew would probably call “melon.” Cinestyle is periwinkle, pale blue-purple. Colour Saturation is berry.

Reel Sexy is available on Nordstrom.com, Dillards.com, Bloomingdales.com, and MACcosmetics.com — happy shopping!

Pantone was a commercial printing company that became famous for their color standards. To make a long story short, they created books of color swatches and a system by which any of these colors could be consistently created. Some colors are created with the standard printing mix of CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black). Others are “spot” colors, created from some combination of Pantone’s 13 inks plus white and black. What this means is a graphic designer in Phoenix can create a corporate logo in PMS 78 (Pantone Matching System), and it can be printed correctly in Iceland, India, or New Zealand, without calibrating it to another printed sample. The system is so pervasive that even national flags are described by PMS color.

And since 2000, for the prestige of the brand, Pantone has named a “color of the year.” I don’t always agree with their predictions; I wasn’t feeling “Honeysuckle” last year. Orange was pretty hot last summer — I think it hasn’t yet gone out of vogue. Regardless, I love orange, so I was very excited about the collaboration.

I originally expected to buy the collector’s set, $68. It includes everything I thought I would want: eyeshadow quad, lipstick, the blush duo, and single blush. The lipgloss and eyeliner were just a bonus! But the eyeshadow quad kind of talked me out of it. The texture was nice, but not, as Camel cigarettes used to say, pure swatching pleasure. The shades are all a little sheer (I built them up).

Scallop Shell is a sheer, satin, beige ballet pink. Carnelian is a satin coral with a few pink-gold shimmers. Sparrow is a cool, matte, slightly purpled bark-brown. Pavement is a sheer black satin with a few tiny sparkles. The eyeshadow quad is $28, if you buy it individually.

Tangerine Tango Cream lipstick ($18) is the flagship piece of the collection, and Sephora, you got me good. I love it. It’s a semi-sheer coral orange — and because it’s sheer, it goes completely warm-strawberry red-pink on me. Also because it’s sheer, it doesn’t last THAT long on my lips. The texture is glossy-jelly, not drying at all. It also has a sweet scent (gummi bears?) that I notice only when I’m applying.

Then there’s the lipgloss set, $20 (which is nothing when you consider you’re getting 4 glosses). But in what will become a recurring theme for this collection, I kind of wish they’d done individual products instead of a set.

The lipglosses are a nod to Pantone’s different finishes. Vivid is probably the truest representation of what “Tangerine Tango” is supposed to be. It’s the most opaque and the most red. Tangerine Tango Luminous is a little lighter, a little more sheer, and has gold sparkles. Tangerine Tango Opal is a little more sheer and a little lighter, with dense pink sparkles. But as you can see from the swatches, it almost seems like you’re buying three tubes of the same gloss. Tangerine Tango Glaze is a nice surprise. It’s a sheer, warm, grapefruit pink with pink and gold sparkles.

There are two blush options, a blush duo ($26) and a Prisma Chrome Blush ($16). The blush duo consists of Desert Flower (a matte, warm guava pink) and Coral (a deeper, more intense, watermelon pink with gold shimmer). The Prisma Chrome Blush was REALLY sparkly; I felt like there was nearly as much sparkle as color/pigment. It’s apricot with dense gold sparkles.

Not loving Apricot Brandy confirmed my decision not to buy the collector’s set.

I found the Tangerine Tango nail polishes to be surprisingly nifty… but I wished I could buy just one of them for $6, rather than all four for $24. Like the lipglosses, the nail polishes are an exploration of finish. The set contains Tangerine Tango Matte, Creme, Shimmer (sheer with tiny orange and pink shimmers), and Glitter (intense, autumn-leaf orange glitter in a clear base).

There’s also a trio of mechanical eyeliners ($22). Though these pencils were very soft and creamy, I was concerned about staying power. (Anyone own these and care to weigh in?) Meteorite is black, Tangerine Tango Twist is a sheeny satin bittersweet red-orange with pink and silver shimmers. Chestnut is dark brown.

The collection also contains a number of makeup accessories: “Tangerine Tango” brush sets ($68), false lashes ($28), eyelash curlers ($18), a makeup bag ($28). None of these made my have-to-have list.

Also, I do have to ding Sephora for their packaging on this collection: the outer packaging is absurdly wasteful (perhaps to discourage in-store shoplifting of what was sure to be a popular collection). I also disliked the translucent, non-attaching, magnetized lids on the eyeshadow quad and blush duo.

Are you an orange-lover? A Pantone-groupie? What did you love (and not love) about this collection?

The Extra Dimension Eyeshadows are $20 each (larger size pans) — and yes, I swatched these dry, with no base or primer. Young Venus is a pale, sparkling frosty ice-pink. Blue Orbit is sparkling frosty periwinkle. Lunar is blackened sapphire — a black base with sparkly/frosty blue shimmer. Grand Galaxy is a sparkling/frosty blue-purple grape. Rich Core is more of a red-purple (also sparkling/frosty). Sweet Heat is a high shimmer, very frosty rosy copper. Havana is a satin/frost warm tobacco brown with no sparkle. Modern Pewter is a frosty shimmery green-silver-gold metallic. Warm Thunder is a sparkly/frosty cool, steely, almost bluish silver. Dark Dare is satin/matte black with a few tiny sparkles.

The three Extra Dimension Skinfinishes are $28 each, and — surprisingly — they’re eye- and lip-safe. Superb is beige-pink with silver multicolored sparkles (click here to compare it to Estee Lauder’s first — and unnamed — powder gelee from fall 2011). Whisper of Gilt is warm pale gold with silver shimmer, and doesn’t really have a counterpart from Estee Lauder. Glorify is burnished copper (click here to compare it to Estee Lauder’s spring 2012 Topaz Chameleon).

I swatched these first lightly (because they can be so intense), then heavily (to show the color):


This collection also repromotes two of the “split-personality” brushes from the Semi-Precious collection (photos here): the 128 split-fibre cheek brush ($32) and the 234 split-fibre eye blending brush ($22.50).

Products are available at every MAC counter and free-standing store, though if that’s inconvenient (or your local counter is sold out of something) I’d recommend Nordstrom.com (free shipping at any price!).

I tried 240 Pamplelune on at the counter and it’s much less sparkly on the lips than it looks on your hand. The formula feels marvelous, and the colors are fairly subtle. I think of these as an easy, effortless, brightening, single-product summer lip. Like their Rouge Automatique counterparts, Shine Automatiques are $35 each.

200 Sous Le Vent is a muted, warm, browned rose with a few, tiny, multicolored sparkles. 201 Vague Souvenir is a warm apricot-brown. “Vague Souvenir” sounded so funny in English I looked up what it meant in French. Souvenir is memory. Well that makes sense.

202 Mi-Mai is a soft, muted warm pink (lighter than Sous Le Vent) with silver sparkles. 220 Pour Troubler is a cherry pink-red with gold sparkles. 221 Rouge de Damas is a warm red-rose-pink with blue-silver sparkles. 240 Pamplelune is a sheer, warm, strawberry-candy jelly-pink with gold sparkles. 260 Jardin de Bagatelle is a very sheer pale grapefruit-pink with gold sparkles. 261 Rose Imperial is a sweet, cool, rose-candy pink with pink sparkles. 262 Extrait de Rose is a cooler, more vibrant, blue-pink (a gentle fuchsia) with silver sparkles. 263 A La Parisienne is a warm strawberry red-pink with pink and gold sparkles.

I couldn’t fit all 12 shades on my arm, so here are the 260s all together:

264 Rose Pompon is a sheer (purple) wine with pink and silver sparkles. 265 Pao Rosa is a red-berry-wine with pink sparkles.

The last few Chantecaille collections have centered around a four-pan palette, so let’s start with that. The limited edition Coral Reefs palette is $79, and includes three full-sized eyeshadows and a blush. When you finish a shade, there’s a pinhole in the back of the compact to help you push out the pan, so you can pop something else in there (which is nice, because empty palettes from Chantecaille are pretty expensive).

For the past several years the Chantecailles have donated a portion of the proceeds of these palettes to various environmental charities. When you buy a Coral Reefs palette, 5% ($3.95) will go to the Marine Conservation Institute. I guess 5% is better than nothing, but I think you buy a Chantecaille palette because their powders are exquisite and you love the colors, not because they’re making a donation.

The powders feature a gold overspray (which disappears quickly) and the embossed image of coral. The first shade (Pink Pearl) is a soft satin beige-pink with a very subtle, pearly tinge of gold shimmer. The second shade (Reef, also referred to as Sand on Chantecaille’s website) is a satin warm fawn-sand with very subtle, tiny gold shimmers. The third shade (Driftwood) is a satin, warm brown, redwood, mulch color with a few tiny bronze shimmers.

The blush is simply called Coral, and it’s a beautiful satin warm pink with tiny, subtle, glowy sparkles. Oh how I love a warm/coral blush.

There are three lip products in the collection, which I thought were all permanent additions to the line… though NeimanMarcus.com designates the Lip Chic and Gloss as limited edition.

Sunrise Lip Chic is a warm, tropical guava pink ($33). Lucky Brilliant Lip Gloss is a light, warm, sheer pink with gold shimmers ($32). Coral Lip Definer is a bright coral, a very orange pink ($24).

There’s one new Gel Liner Pencil, Espresso. But I was pretty sure I hadn’t yet swatched Hematite (which launched this past fall), so I did that one, too. These eyeliner pencils are $32 each. I believe Espresso is limited edition (but why?). It’s a dark cool brown, pretty much my perfect color for an eyeliner. Hematite is a sheeny, Batman-charcoal black-grey.

If you’re shopping online, this collection is available on NeimanMarcus.com (free shipping with code SPRINGFS), Nordstrom.com (free shipping), and Chantecaille.com (free shipping at $75).